Thursday, May 31, 2012

Book of the Week - Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta

Definitely one of the best books of the year. I can't imagine it not being a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and other SFF awards. While it is the middle book of a trilogy I can promise you that it stands on its own as I did not read Finnikin of the Rock, a situation that must be remedied as I wait impatiently for the next book.

Froi, fiercely loyal and fiercely independent accepts the task of going to the neighboring kingdom that had perpetrated horrific acts upon the people of his adopted country Lumatere during their recent war. In Charyn he is to take the place of one of the last "last-born" so he can gain access to the palace and assassinate the king before Quintana, the mad last-born princess, comes of age. Charyn was cursed nineteen years earlier with sterility and later a prophecy written in Quintana's blood decreed that "the last will make the first" understood as the last children born before the curse took effect will have to conceive in order to break the curse. This has led to Quintana being fruitlessly mated each year since her thirteenth birthday, the day called by the Charynites, the day of weeping.

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Diana Tixier Herald, winner of Novelist's 2014 Margaret E. Monroe Award, has been posting book recommendations to the web since 1996. She is the author of several editions of Genreflecting, Teen Genreflecting, Fluent in Fantasy, and Strictly Science Fiction. She is the series editor of the Libraries Unlimited (ABC-CLIO) bestselling Genreflecting series.

Disclaimer

Many of the books I review on this site have been sent to me by publishers, authors, or publicists. I do not receive compensation for the reviews. I only review books I like and can recommend to other readers because I will not waste time reading or reviewing books I do not like. I do not keep review copies after I am done with them. They are passed on to teen reviewers or donated to schools and other non-profit organizations.